A livestream of deep sea creatures transfixes Argentina
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Transparent-faced fish drift through dusky waters. Soft sponges peek through the soot of the seafloor. Only occasional mutters among marine biologists break the thick silence. Somehow, this livestream of sea life in the South Atlantic has Argentines hooked. The researchers behind this remotely operated vehicle filming life-forms 4000 metres under sea told The Associated Press on Monday that they never expected their wonky deep-sea expedition to become such a social media sensation. The video feed has attracted more than 1.6 million views a day on YouTube, dominated TV news broadcasts and even sparked a national conversation about the defunding of Argentine science under libertarian President Javier Milei. Most Argentine researchers on the expedition come from Conicet, Argentina's leading scientific funding and research body, shining a light on the institute's work at a moment when its funding is under attack. President Milei has taken his bureaucracy-slashing chainsaw to Argentine research projects and grants, curbing science spending as a part of a broader drive to eliminate Argentina's chronic fiscal deficit and bring down inflation. State-backed science organisations have lost 4000 positions in the last year and a half — a combination of layoffs, frozen contracts and resignations over poor working conditions and low pay. Many warn that the measures are setting off a brain drain. Seizing on the surge of public excitement about Conicet, researchers have called for a 48-hour nationwide strike on Wednesday to draw attention to their plight. Although Milei has not commented on the livestream, his allies have expressed disdain. "They should livestream an offshore drilling operation instead," said Alejandro Álvarez, an official in Milei's government, referring to growing crude production in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formation — an oil boom that Milei hopes can help revive the nation's crisis-stricken economy. "It's a beautiful process of wealth creation and natural resource exploitation that will make Argentina greater." In the meantime, Argentines seem content to be mesmerised by orange starfish.
